Reactor for preparing an easily compactable material

ABSTRACT

A conical chamber having its longitudinal axis disposed horizontally has input connections at the center of the larger diameter end of the cone shape. The smaller diameter end of the cone is truncated to define a discharge outlet. The cone is mounted for rotation, and the interior surface of the conical chamber contains lifting vanes of short height which extend longitudinally along the inner surface of the cone and act to mix or tumble material loaded into the chamber from the input connections without applying an undue compacting force to such material. A cooling spray is applied to the exterior surface of the chamber and the cooling fluid is collected by a pan which encloses the bottom region beneath the chamber.

United States Patent [191 Morse et al.

REACTOR FOR PREPARING AN EASILY COMPACTABLE MATERIAL Inventors: Ilarold Morse, Cincinnati,

Ohio; Layne F. Plock, Geneva, Ohio; Fred Keith Morgan, Cold Springs, Ky.

Assignee: Natidnal Distillers and Chemical Corp., New York, N.Y.

Filed: Dec. 17,1971

Appl. No.: 209,104

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Shero 259/177 R X 685,243 10/1901 Atwood 259/3 X Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe

Attorney-Allen A. Meyer, Jr.

[5 7 ABSTRACT A conical chamber having its longitudinal axis disposed horizontally has input connections at the center of the larger diameter end of the cone shape. The smaller diameter end of the cone is truncated to define a discharge outlet. The cone is mounted for rotation, and the interior surface of the conical chamber contains lifting vanes of short height which extend longitudinally along the inner surface of the cone and act to mix or tumble material loaded into the chamber from the input connections without applying an undue compacting force to such material. A cooling spray is applied to the exterior surface of the chamber and the cooling fluid is collected by a pan which encloses the bottom region beneath the chamber.

9 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 16, 1973 3,765,653

3 Shams-Sheet 1 L4y/ F Hawk mgo K, Mafia/M Alla/z A Myer, k/k

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 16, 1973 3 Shasta-Shunt 2 Patented Get. 16, 1973 3,765,653

3 Slants-Sheet 5 REACTOR FOR PREPARING AN EASILY COMPACTABLE MATERIAL RELATED APPLICATIONS This application describes a reactor which is particularly useful in carrying out portions of the process of copending application Ser. No. 209,094, filed Dec. 17, l971, entitled METHOD FOR PRODUCING RE- FRACTORY METALS, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION When two or more products are to be mixed and partially reacted and form an easily compactable material, it is necessary that the mixer be constructed so that it will not apply any appreciable force to the mix, as would occur in a paddle or dough mixer. If compacting would take place, it is apparent that the mixture would compact and eventually jam the mixer, particularly where a continuous process is desired in which products to be mixed are continuously introduced into the mixer inlet and the compactable mixture is continuously withdrawn from the mixer outlet.

One typical process which requires mixing without the application of substantial compacting force to the mixture is the process described in the above-noted application in which titanium tetrachloride is mixed with liquid sodium to produce a partially reduced material (reducer product) corresponding to a TiCl Na mixture in which about 45-55 percent of the stoichmetric reduction of the TiCl, to the metal has occurred. The partially reduced material is subsequently mixed in a mixer with additional sodium to produce an intermediate material corresponding to a mixture of TiCl and sodium in which about 55-95 percent of the stoichmetric reduction to the metal has occurred which subsequently produces metallic titanium. The intermediate material is a product which has the consistency of wet snow and is easily compactable. Thus, when using conventional mixers, the product will be compacted, eventually to jam the mixer to prevent continuous processing.

In accordance with the invention, a generally conical tumbler is provided to tumble and thereby mix and cause to react materials to form an easily compactable material without applying substantial compacting force to the material while continuously moving the tumbling material from an inlet region adjacent the large diameter end of the conical tumbler to an outlet region at the small diameter end of the tumbler. The conical tumbler is, therefore, mounted for rotation, and has its longitudinal axis disposed generally horizontally but slightly lower at the exit end. A plurality of shallow longitudinal ribs are secured to the interior of the tumbler where these ribs have a height, for example, of three inches for a forty-five inch diameter tumbler, to insure effective tumbling action of the mix without compacting the mixture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view through a vertical plane extending through the center of the mixer of the invention.

FIGS. la and lb show enlarged views of the inlet and outlet regions of the mixer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the mixer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end plan view of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2, shown schematically and with the end support structure removed, for clarity.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the tumbler drum of FIGS. 1 and 2 to more clearly show the lifting rods within the rotating cone or tumbler.

FIG. 5 shows another form which can be taken for the cone of FIGS. 1 to 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the figures, and particularly FIGS. 1a and 1b, there is shown a rotatable conically shaped tumbler or drum 10, which is supported for rotation within a pan 11, which receives the collected fluid of a cooling spray directed toward drum 10 from overhead spray nozzles 12 to 16. Spray nozzles 12 to 16 may be operated by suitable solenoid valves, and are connected to a common header 17 which is suitably mounted above drum 10 in any desired manner. A suitable spray cooling fluid is water, which may be connected to inlet duct 18 of header 17. Water collected in pan 11 may be withdrawn from outlet tube 19 and recirculated or discharged, as desired.

It should be noted that the water cooling system is arranged such that the water spray density is controllable along the length of drum 10. The temperature at the larger end of the drum, where the products are being mixed and reacted, will be higher than at the small end. This will be more fully understood later. Note that other cooling patterns could be used, depending on the configuration and disposition of the spray cooling nozzles 12 to 16.

In order to rotatably support drum l0, drive wheels 20 and 21 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) are connected to drum hubs 22 and 23, respectively, at the large and small diameterends, respectively, of drum 10, shown in FIG. 1.

Drive wheel 20 contains an extending central rib 24 which divides its outer periphery into two axially spaced halves 25 and 26. The drive wheel 20 is then supported on two radially displaced pairs of wheels 27-28 and 31-32, respectively (FIGS. 2 and 3), which receive surfaces 25 and 26, respectively. Wheels 27 and 28, as shown in FIG. 1, are spaced from one another, and receive rib 24 between them, and are mounted by suitable ball bearing mounts 33 and 34, respectively, which are mounted on a suitable support frame 30. A similar support is provided for wheels 31 and 32. It will be apparent that drive wheel 20 is now rotatably mounted relative to frame 30 by bearingmounted wheels 27, 28, 31 and 32. Note that rib 24 prevents axial movement of drive wheel 20 relative to wheels 27 and 28.

The small diameter end of hub 23 of drum 10 is simi larly rotatably mounted by radially displaced wheels 35 and 36 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which are bearing-mounted on frame 30. Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, wheel 35 is mounted in bearings 37 and 38 which are fixed to frame 30. Thus, wheel 21 is rotatably carried on wheels 35 and 36 which roll relative to its surface 21a.

In order to rotate drum 10, a drive motor 40, having a suitable speed control means, is provided with an output sprocket 41 (FIG. 1a) which drives a suitable chain which is connected to sprocket 42. Sprocket 42 is then mechanically connected to flange 43 which is, in turn, connected to hub 22.

The inlet structure, for introducing products to be mixed in drum 10, includes a sealed collar 50 which surrounds hub 22 and is stationarily supported with respect to hub 22 by support web 51 fastened to frame 30. Collar 50 then receives two input channels 52 and 53 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) where channel 52 may consist of a screw feed means. By way of example, the reducer product can be injected into drum through the screw feed in channel 52. The second channel 53 can be connected to a source of liquid sodium which is to be mixed with the reducer product within drum 10 in accordance with the description of previously identified copending application Ser. No. 209,094.

Where the conduit 52 contains a screw feed, the motor for driving the screw can be arranged as shown in FIG. 1 for the motor 60, mounted on frame 30, which motor 60 drives screw 61 in channel 52. It will also be noted that the collar 50 has an overflow outlet in communication with the interior of drum 10. This permits overflow of the contents of the drum when it inadvertently rises above the level of the bottom of the opening in hub 22. Note further that the bottom of the opening in hub 22 is intentionally higher than the bottom of the opening in hub 23.

The outlet structure for the drum 10 is best shown in FIG. 1 and consists of a collar 60a supported from frame 30, which has an outlet opening 61a through which mixed material is discharged from the drum 10 as its level within the drum is higher than the bottom of the opening in hub 23.

Suitable rotating seals (97 and 98) may be provided, for example, at collars 50 and 60a which permit drum 10 to be filled with a controlled atmosphere if desired.

In order to assure the desired mixing, without compacting, the drum 10 has longitudinally extending lifters or vanes therein which can be hollow and fluid cooled when required, shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 as vanes 70 to 75. Note that vanes 70 and 73 extend the full length of drum 10 while vanes 71, 72, 74 and 75 extend only a part of its length in the large diameter end of conical drum 10. Any number of vanes can be used so long as they have a relatively low height. By way of example, for a drum having a large end diameter of about 3 feet and small end diameter of about 1 foot, the vanes may have a height of about from 1 to 3 inches and a width of about A inch. The vanes may have any desired length. By way of example, vanes 70 and 73 may have a length of about 12 feet. Additional vanes can be added, as shown in FIG. 4, for vanes 80 and 81 which extend for about half the length of the drum from its small diameter end.

The use of a circular cone for drum 10 was selected for illustrative purposes only, it being apparent that any desired shape could be used. By way of example, an octagonal configuration could be adopted for the drum, as shown for drum 90 in FIG. 5. Note that drum 90 may contain vanes or lifters 91 to 96, either solid or hollow for fluid cooling as required.

Although this invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications will now be obvious to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the

scope of this invention is to be limited, not by the spe cific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A reactor for making compactable material comprising a hollow rotatable conical drum; said conical drum being symmetrically disposed around a longitudinal axis and having a large diameter end and a small diameter end; means for rotatably supporting said conical drum with said longitudinal axis of said conical drum disposed generally horizontally; a first and second input conduit means stationarily mounted relative to the rotation of said conical drum and extending into the large diameter end of said conical drum for depositing a liquid and a solid material, respectively, to be mixed and reacted therein; rotating seal means connected to said large and small diameter ends of said conical drum to permit the interior of said drum to maintain a controlled atmosphere; said small diameter end of said conical drum being truncated to define a discharge opening; output means connected to said small diameter end of said conical drum for receiving a mixed product from said conical drum; elongated lifter members, having a small height relative to the diameter of said drum, secured to the interior surface of said conical drum and longitudinally extending for at least a portion of the length of said interior surface and radially spaced from one another around the interior surface of said conical drum; and rotating means connected to said conical drum for rotating said conical drum.

2. The reactor of claim 1 wherein the discharge end of said input conduit means is disposed at a height greater than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening in said conical drum, and means for continuously introducing products to be mixed into said drum from said input conduit means and for continuously withdrawing mixed products from said output means.

3. The reactor of claim 1 which includes cooling spray means for discharging a cooling spray over substantially the full length of the exterior of said conical drum.

4. The reactor of claim 1 wherein said input conduit means is disposed generally at the axis of said conical drum.

5. The reactor of claim 4 wherein the discharge end of said input conduit means is disposed at a height greater than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening in said conical drum, and means for continuously introducing products to be mixed into said drum from said input conduit means, and for continuously withdrawing mixed products from said output means.

6. The reactor of claim 5 which includes cooling spray means for discharging a cooling spray over substantially the full length of the exterior of said conical drum.

7. The reactor of claim 5 wherein said elongated lifter members have a height of from about 1 to 5 inches, and wherein said conical drum has a diameter at its said large diameter end of more than 1 foot, and has a length of more than 2 feet.

8. The reactor of claim 1 which includes overflow outlet means connected to said large diameter end of said conical drum; said overflow outlet means being stationary relative to said conical drum and having a height greater, by a given amount, than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening.

9. A reactor for making a compactable material comprising a hollow rotatable conical'drum, said conical drum being symmetrically disposed around a longitudinal axis and having a large diameter end and a small diameter end; means for rotatably supporting said conical drum with said longitudinal axis of said conical drum disposed generally horizontally; input conduit means extending into said large diameter end of said conical drum for depositing material to be mixed and reacted therein; overflow outlet means connected to said large diameter end of said conical drum, said overflow outlet means being stationary relative to said conical drum and having a height greater, by a given amount, than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening; said small diameter end of said conical drum being truncated to define a discharge opening; output means connected to said small diameter end of said conical drum for receiving a mixed product from said conical drum; elongated lifter members having a small height relative to the diameter of said drum, secured to the inner surface of said conical drum and extending for at least a portion of the length of said interior surface and radially spaced from one another around the interior surface of said conical drum; and rotating means connected to said conical drum for rotating said conical drum. 

1. A reactor for making compactable material comprising a hollow rotatable conical drum; said conical drum being symmetrically disposed around a longitudinal axis and having a large diameter end and a small diameter end; means for rotatably supporting said conical drum with said longitudinal axis of said conical drum disposed generally horizontally; a first and second input conduit means stationarily mounted relative to the rotation of said conical drum and extending into the large diameter end of said conical drum for depositing a liquid and a solid material, respectively, to be mixed and reacted therein; rotating seal means connected to said large and small diameter ends of said conical drum to permit the interior of said drum to maintain a controlled atmosphere; said small diameter end of said conical drum being tRuncated to define a discharge opening; output means connected to said small diameter end of said conical drum for receiving a mixed product from said conical drum; elongated lifter members, having a small height relative to the diameter of said drum, secured to the interior surface of said conical drum and longitudinally extending for at least a portion of the length of said interior surface and radially spaced from one another around the interior surface of said conical drum; and rotating means connected to said conical drum for rotating said conical drum.
 2. The reactor of claim 1 wherein the discharge end of said input conduit means is disposed at a height greater than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening in said conical drum, and means for continuously introducing products to be mixed into said drum from said input conduit means and for continuously withdrawing mixed products from said output means.
 3. The reactor of claim 1 which includes cooling spray means for discharging a cooling spray over substantially the full length of the exterior of said conical drum.
 4. The reactor of claim 1 wherein said input conduit means is disposed generally at the axis of said conical drum.
 5. The reactor of claim 4 wherein the discharge end of said input conduit means is disposed at a height greater than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening in said conical drum, and means for continuously introducing products to be mixed into said drum from said input conduit means, and for continuously withdrawing mixed products from said output means.
 6. The reactor of claim 5 which includes cooling spray means for discharging a cooling spray over substantially the full length of the exterior of said conical drum.
 7. The reactor of claim 5 wherein said elongated lifter members have a height of from about 1 to 5 inches, and wherein said conical drum has a diameter at its said large diameter end of more than 1 foot, and has a length of more than 2 feet.
 8. The reactor of claim 1 which includes overflow outlet means connected to said large diameter end of said conical drum; said overflow outlet means being stationary relative to said conical drum and having a height greater, by a given amount, than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening.
 9. A reactor for making a compactable material comprising a hollow rotatable conical drum, said conical drum being symmetrically disposed around a longitudinal axis and having a large diameter end and a small diameter end; means for rotatably supporting said conical drum with said longitudinal axis of said conical drum disposed generally horizontally; input conduit means extending into said large diameter end of said conical drum for depositing material to be mixed and reacted therein; overflow outlet means connected to said large diameter end of said conical drum, said overflow outlet means being stationary relative to said conical drum and having a height greater, by a given amount, than the height of the bottom of said discharge opening; said small diameter end of said conical drum being truncated to define a discharge opening; output means connected to said small diameter end of said conical drum for receiving a mixed product from said conical drum; elongated lifter members having a small height relative to the diameter of said drum, secured to the inner surface of said conical drum and extending for at least a portion of the length of said interior surface and radially spaced from one another around the interior surface of said conical drum; and rotating means connected to said conical drum for rotating said conical drum. 